The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (67-77, 32-37) visited NBT Bank Stadium to kick off the final week of the regular season against the Syracuse Mets (77-67, 39-30). Brian Keller was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Saul Garcia of Syracuse.
In the bottom of the first inning, Brian Keller loaded the bases with one out. Vidal Brujan put the Mets up 2-0 with a two-run RBI double off the wall at right field, scoring D’Andre Smith and Jefferson Rojas. With two outs, Keller walked Billy Amick, and the bases were reloaded. A groundout by Ryan Clifford ended the inning. At the top of the second inning, Colby Thomas and Payton Henry were hit by pitches. Lehigh Valley catcher Paul McIntosh grounded into a forceout at second base, and the inning was over.
In the bottom of the second inning, Syracuse had a runner on first base with one out when Jefferson Rojas hit Keller’s sweeper for a two-run home run at 361 feet to left field for a 4-0 lead. It was his first home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 105.6 mph. With two outs, Keller walked M.J. Melendez and gave up a single to Vidal Brujan. A groundout by Émilien Pitre ended the inning.
Lehigh Valley starter Brian Keller went five innings, allowing four hits, four runs, five walks, and two strikeouts, throwing 92 pitches, of which 53 were strikes. Nester Cortes pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the sixth inning. He gave up a double to Ryan Clifford before striking out Hayden Senger for the first out.
D’Andre Smith made it 6-0 for Syracuse when he hit Cortes’s cutter for a two-run home run at 355 feet to left field. It was his fifth home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 104.8 mph. He gave up a double to Ronny Mauricio with two outs before striking out M.J. Melendez to end the inning.
Cortes went 1.2 innings, allowing three hits, two runs, and three strikeouts, throwing 32 pitches, of which 23 were strikes. Mitch Neunborn replaced Cortes with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning. He struck out Billy Amick to end the inning. Neunborn threw three pitches, of which three were strikes.
At the top of the eighth inning, Lehigh Valley third baseman Otto Kemp hit Dylan Ross’s four-seam fastball for a solo home run at 395 feet to left-center field. It was now 6-1. For Kemp, it was his 17th home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 105.1 mph. Keaton Anthony hit a one-out single, but Carter Kieboom and Dylan Moore were unable to bring him home.
Andrew Hoffmann pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the eighth inning. Syracuse had runners on first and second base with two outs when Ronny Mauricio hit an RBI single to right field, scoring Ryan Clifford for a 7-1 lead. Hoffmann loaded the bases when Vidal Brujan hit a two-run RBI single to right field, scoring Hayden Senger and Ronny Mauricio for a 9-1 lead. Hoffmann was replaced by Tristan Garnett. A pop-out by Émilien Pitre ended the inning. Hoffmann allowed four hits, three runs, one walk, and one strikeout, throwing 29 pitches, of which 16 were strikes. Garnett threw two pitches, of which one was a strike.
The IronPigs lost to the Mets 9-1. Lehigh Valley finished the night with four hits, went 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position, and left ten men on base. Otto Kemp went one for five with a home run. The loss went to Lehigh Valley starter Brian Keller (1-7), and the win went to Syracuse pitcher Ben Simon (4-4).
The IronPigs and Mets play game two on Wednesday at 6:35 pm on the MLB App and Bally Sports Live. Alan Rangel (3-8, 5.50 ERA) will be on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Jonathan Santucci (4-10, 3.99 ERA) for Syracuse.
